Crash
by epifonia
Summary: Heero, Duo, and Quatre are passengers on a plane when it is bombed by terrorists. The three boys fight for their lives and the lives of the passengers on a jet that is swiftly approaching destruction. Warnings: Violence, and injuries.
1. Chapter 1

Heero, Duo, and Quatre are passengers on a plane when it is bombed by terrorists. The three boys fight for their lives and the lives of the passengers on a jet that is swiftly approaching destruction.

**Told through the eyes of an OC but don't let that scare you, she's just a lens to see the main characters and won't be a big part of the plot.**

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**Crash**

Tina hugged her daughter closer to her as she stared in abject terror out the window, where smoke and flames had replaced the serene puffy white clouds. A fat lady with gray hair curled to crusty perfection with liberal amounts of hairspray screamed and sobbed before yanking the window shut, cutting Tina's view off. Her daughter shivered silently, and Tina was grateful for her quiet stoicism, she didn't have any words to console her. Suddenly, one of the flight attendants stumbled out from the front of the jet, tight blonde hair hanging in disarray around her face.

"Please," she gasped into the plane-wide comms, "If anyone has experience piloting a Boeing 747 jet, come to the front of the plane now." The plane was silent for a moment, and then the screams began in earnest. Women screamed and clung to their husbands who stared white faced in the direction of the voice. Children wailed, men shouted, the cacophony dipping and escalating in time with the sickening dips as the cabin hit air pockets, and the yellow masks bounced down in front of the passengers. One man ran to the front of the plane screaming for a parachute, pushing the flight attendant bodily aside and trying to force open the emergency exit hatch while the screams in the first class section nearest the door reached a new pitch.

Tina clutched her daughter to her, white hands making marks on the child's skin. The man was leaning over her legs for the door, his hand over the hysterical fat lady's mouth as they all struggled to keep the man away from the door. Suddenly the pressure was lifted. Tina cracked her eyes to see the man being lifted by his collar off of her lap. A few well placed jabs by a lightly tanned hand and the man lay unconscious on the floor. The screaming abated a bit. Taking advantage of the slight silence, Tina's rescuer said in a deep, commanding monotone, "Take me to the cabin, I have training."

A deep silence followed these words. The passengers stared at the owner of the voice in shock. A boy that must have been no older than seventeen, if that, with messy brown hair and deep blue eyes stood calmly in front of the stewardess. She might have smiled, but the look in his eyes somehow left no doubt that the boy was telling the truth. She moved to obey, but was stopped by the others in the first class cabin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" One man asked, his choked voice leading Tina to wonder if his blue striped tie was a little too tight. "You can't let a child pilot a plane like this!" He clutched his laptop defiantly over his blue suit. "This is an outrage! He blustered on, if this airline is so incompetent—" he was cut off by the boy turning slowly around to face him. The boy's eyes hit him full force, the glare so strong he was completely lost for words and found himself sinking back in his seat. The boy continued up into the cockpit, followed shortly by another almost younger looking boy with a long braid. Another blond came shortly after.

The passengers in the first class cabin stared at the cockpit door in shock as the parade of children walked past, calmly and authoritatively. Blue tie man seemed to regain his voice.  
"We're all going to die! To think, that this airline would be so horribly screwed up! What was I thinking getting on this plane! I obviously wasn't! Just like they aren't if they're letting a child pilot a plane! I don't know about you but I'm getting out of here! I'm not staying here to be killed by some bomb-toting terrorist tots!" A ringing silence followed his words, everyone watching him as he lunged for the cockpit, diving for a locker that opened just inside the red glow of the cockpit.

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I know the plane crash has been done a lot but it's a fantastic plot device and I had to try my hand at it. This is my first chapter fic, and I know the chapters are short but I'll update fast. I hope you like it, and please review! All kinds are welcome! Is this worth continuing? Should I write a prologue?


	2. Chapter 2

Tina looked up when the man pried open the cockpit door, getting a glimpse inside what she soon saw to be the mess that was left of the cockpit. The three boys seemed to work in tandem, fingers flying over dials and levers that for all she knew could have been light-up buttons on a Fisher Price toy. The blond spun around at the noise, looking on with horror as the man dug through the locker filled with what looked like large canvas bags. The other two boys did not turn around, their shoulders visibly tensing, but keeping their eyes and hands firmly on the instruments in front of them.

"Sir," the blond began, putting a firm hand on the man's shoulder ( a feat which he only managed because the man was hunched over the locker), "what do you think you're doing?"

"Get out of my way pipsqueak!" The man roared, lunging at the boy, and pinning him by his neck against the cold metal of the locker. Tina gasped at the sickening crack that rang out when the boy's head hit the back paneling. "I'm too important to die here!"

Tina clutched her daughter to her as she shrank in horror from the enraged man. The boy's feet dangled helplessly from the ground, and he struggled for breath as his hands scrabbled at the back of the older man's. He was going to choke him!

"Can't…parachute…descent angle…t-too steep…you'll die!"The boy managed to gasp out. Tina looked at the boy with shock. Even as he was held by the throat, he was concerned for the welfare of the man who was attacking him? Tina looked up at the eyes of the blond boy and was shocked at watch she saw. There was no fear or anger, not even pain there was only…empathy.

Tina was so riveted by those shining turquoise eyes that she almost missed the quiet movements of the other pilots. The two had become visibly tense, but they did not turn away from their instruments.

"Duo" the dark haired boy said softly, but authoritatively without turning. Tina's eyes followed the movements of the braided boy,who had at the soft word of his comrade had risen, propped a lever into position using a piece of paneling from the debris that filled the partially destroyed cockpit, and turned smoothly to face the large man as he dug through what Tina now recognized as parachutes.  
Suddenly the man dropped to the floor, the braided boy catching the blond as he slid down the wall and crowing at the man who lay at his feet.

"You're lucky Quat likes ya or I mighta killed ya, this being an emergency an' all." Tina started to see that the braided boy indeed held a gun which the blond - Quat, Tina supposed- was swiftly propelling back into the holster.

The two boys turned without another word into the cockpit, resuming their positions without bothering to close the hatch. The passengers stared slack-jawed at the boys, easily visible in the orange glow of the cockpit. There was no question now that the boys knew what they were doing. They were like musicians, pianists, their hands flying over the dials and controls, every movement with direction and purpose. Quat sat at the right behind the copilot seat occupied by Duo with a head-set in ringing off a stream of coordinates and numbers that Tina couldn't even begin to find coherency in.

Without warning, the right side of the cockpit exploded.

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A/N: Aaah, okay sorry. I know this chapter is super short but it seemed like a good stopping point and I'll have more up soon. Thanks to the people who reviewed! To pattyard, dootadoot, anon "blah blah": Thanks! and the chapters will be longer in the future I promise! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Without warning, the right side of the cockpit exploded, burning paneling shooting like shrapnel across the small room. The braided boy was thrown back against his seat, imprisoned by his straps, while Quat fell off the jumpseat and hit the other side of the cockpit.  
"Duo!" The dark haired boy yelled as he lowered a bloody arm from where it had seconds ago shielded his face. The plane jerked and dipped and the passengers began to scream in earnest. Dark-hair lunged forward his hands moving faster than ever as he tried operate the copilot and pilot controls himself. He wrestled with the wrenching plane, managing to steady it with what looked like Herculean effort.

"Damn!" he yelled, "Main engines are completely gone now, we only have auxiliary left." He risked a slight turn of his head as Quat picked himself up from the floor and Tina could see that the left side of his forehead was covered in blood that dripped into his eye.

"Quatre! Report."The blond made his way unsteadily to the controls and groaned at what he saw.

"Comms are down, fires on the starboard wing and the cargo hold and we're leaking fuel in the auxiliary engine."

"And you, damage?"

"I'm fine, cuts, bruises and some minor burns, Duo, however…" The blond stumbled cautiously over to the braided boy that must have been Duo. He hung in his seat, unmoving. Tina had long since stopped breathing. Who were these boys? They spoke like soldiers and worked in a beautiful harmony with one another, each seeming to know the other's next move, and more than that they seemed to adapt to each new situation without pause. And the dark haired boy, even as burning shrapnel flew across the cabin, even with blood dripping off his forehead and arm he still never took his hands off the controls. They seemed impossible. There's no way these were teenagers. Pilots, soldiers, medics, radio-operators, and both the dark haired boy and Duo seemed to be able to take down a man twice their size with only a couple of jabs. And then there was the blond who only worried about the welfare of the man who was strangling him, then went back to work like it was nothing, and shrugged off the burns and lacerations that laced up his arms? These boys were strong, and they were nothing like Tina had ever seen before.

"Take him back to the cabin and treat him, I will attempt a landing."

"Heero…no, you can't do this alo-"

"Don't presume to tell me what I can and cannot do." The boy snapped, then his voice softened. "Please, take care of Duo…he needs you more than I do. He…he is more important." The blond looked sadly at the dark haired boy, Heero, and then went forward hoisting Duo over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and turning out to the first class cabin. The door shut behind him. The dark haired boy was alone.

"Clear a space!" The boy ordered, walking forward with his burden, his bloody face making it look like he walked straight out of hell. No one argued with him. Tina, her daughter and the hysterical fat lady were helped from their seats, as the exit row had the most room. Quat lay him down across the three chairs.

"Quat…" Tina ventured timidly, "Can I help? I'm a nurse." The blond boy turned towards her, his turquoise eyes brightening.

"Please," he said we a warm smile extending his hand, "every bit helps. My name is Quatre Rebarba Winner by the way, not Quat, that's just what Duo calls me." Tina stared as the rest of the first class passengers followed suit. Whispers raced around the small cabin.

"Did he say Winner?" " As in _the _Winner" " …the missing heir?" "…billions of dollars...". Quatre seemed to blush and stared at Tina expectantly. Oh, right.  
"I'm Tina, and this is my daughter Charlotte."

"Nice to meet you." he said, turning his attention to his friend as Tina was left shell shocked at both the boy's name and the fact that they had just exchanged pleasantries while on a plane that was swiftly approaching a fiery doom on the ground below, or at least that what Tina thought would probably happen.

They worked quickly, tearing the black preacher's uniform off the braided boy, while Tina went up to his head and checked his pulse. It was strong, Tina let out a breath of relief. Reaching down to the cartilage of his ear, she pinched it hard with her nails to test if he was repsonsive to pain. Quatre looked up at her.

"That won't be enough." he said grimly. "He may still be responsive to pain." Tina stared at him in horror as Quatre placed a hand on Duo's stomach and one hand on a piece of plastic paneling that stuck ominously out of his side.

"Tina, are you ready? I'm going to take this out." Tina swallowed and nodded, moving into position at his sides with a wad of gauze. With one swift motion, Quatre tore out the plastic leaving a clean slice in Duo's abdomen. The wound was deep enough that Tina could see the yellow blobs of fat that slid in a thin layer underneath the skin, and blood began to spill from the wound. Before it could start to bleed in earnest Tina brought the two sides of the wound together with butterfly badages supplied by Quatre and covered it with layers of gauze before pressing firmly on top of the wound. She heard a strangled sound above her and it took her a while to realize that it was Duo, he had been responsive to pain after all. Tina halted in her line of thought. It couldn't be right. He had regained conciousness with a pain stimuli, but the pain stimuli was supposed to be somewhat like getting a painful poke. Ripping something out of his side? She had seen plenty of people pass out from less pain than that! Who was this boy?

Quatre descended on Duo, as he blinked his eyes groggily.

"You know the drill, Duo, right?"

"Gimme a sec, Quat, jeez" Duo laughed, but Tina could see Quatre's eyes darken, obviously the blasé response hadn't been enough to quell his fears, or perhaps he could see something Tina couldn't? Tina looked closer down at the boy, although she couldn't see the normal responses to an injury like this (of course not she thought) the boy was wracked by small controlled spasms of pain.

"Duo…" The blond started dangerously.

"Name: Duo Maxwell, Shinigami," he added with a smirk, "Place: crashing plane, Time: We're out of it, so you shouldn't be worrying about me, and what happened: there was a system overload in the right side paneling and it exploded. Oh…and the pink princess is the Vice Foreign Minister if you wanted to know. I'm A&O times 4 Doctor Quatre." Quatre smiled, seeming relieved, though Tina thought she would have told anyone else who answered the A&O questions that way that they had a severe concussion.

Duo sat up slowly, startling Tina by grabbing her hand and adding his own pressure on the gauze. Tina looked up at him in alarm and he smiled.

"Don't worry" he said, and Tina could only hear the slightest strain in his voice, "I've had worse." _Worse?_ Tina sank back into her chair, accepting her daughter back into her arms. She could only take so much of this, and she was seriously concerned about all these boys. Her concern only escalated when Duo got to his feet.

"Duo what are you doing?" Quatre yelled.

"What do you think? That dumbass pilot is gonna get himself killed, he needs somebody there with him." Still holding his side, Duo dragged himself slowly over to the now closed door of the cockpit. The door didn't budge. "You've got to be kidding me! Heero you bastard! Open this door, right now! Don't do this alone!"

"Duo, stop!" Quatre almost screamed, nearing histerics. "If you move around too much you could do permanent damage. You could kill yourself, Duo! I'm not going to let you do this."

The blond boy made his way over to Duo who leaned against the locked door, pounding his fist uselessly against it, and stepped in front of him.

"Get out of my way, Quat, or I swear-"

Whatever he would have sworn would remain a mystery, as Quatre took that moment to plunge a fist into his gut. Tina gasped in time with Duo. The braided boy looked up at Quatre in the last few seconds of conciousness he had, his eyes filled with emotion that Tina couldn't even begin to grasp, and then sunk to the floor unconcious.

Quatre hefted Duo over his shoulder once again and aimed for the empty seat next to Tina. Noting the fact that Tina's daughter was firmly ensconced in her arms rather than the chair next to her he nodded toward it.

"Can we use that seat again?"He asked. Tina, still in somewhat of a shocked daze nodded and inched over toward the aisle to let him past. The fat lady near the window seemed to shrink into her gauzy purple dress. Quatre set Duo into the chair as gently as he could, and strapped him in tightly. Looking towards Tina and her daughter he told them to strap in and hold tight, then springing to the attendant phone connection he addressed the plane over the intercom. Ladies and gentlemen we are going to attempt a landing, please make sure your seat-belts are safely fastened and you get in landing position grabbing your ankles with your head between your knees.

The passengers started to get hysterical again, and a particularly violent shake sent Quatre crashing to the ground. Tina watched him and for some reason she was beginning to be scared for him. She didn't want any harm to come to any of these boys, at least, any more than had already. She looked at the boy that sat hunched beside her in the seat unconscious, looked at the closed cockpit door that hid the boy with a bloody brow that was going to land the plane alone, looked at the door to the rest of the cabin where the compassionate blond had disappeared to run down the corridors, making sure everyone's position was correct she guessed. An orange glow shown throughout the windows around her and she felt a terror growing, and closed her eyes, clutching her daughter, waiting for the end.

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A/N: So, that was longer... I'm not sure if I like it. All the medical stuff is real first aid, I'm a First Responder, however, pulling out the panelling would have been a really bad idea, but they're the gundam pilots so whatever. I have three alternate versions of what happens to Duo in this chapter and I'm not sure if Tina should be a nurse, but here it is. Now I have a pole to give you... should they crash in a jungle, a desert, ice/tundra, or chaparral (dry mountainous stuff with scraggly bushes). Pros and cons of each are below.

Jungle: dangerous animals, isolation, diseases, quicksand, cliche, low rescue possibility  
Desert:dangerous conditions, necessary to move, isolation, low rescue possibility, cliche, I can do good description  
Ice: Isolation, dangerous conditions, not cliche (?), necessary to move, low probability of rescue  
Chapparal: not cliche, good description, high probability of rescue (unless you go post-apocalyptic), conditions not harsh

Please review and tell me what you think! (What you think of the story too) Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, I used to think that people were lying when it had been awhile since they updated and they said that they got a computer virus...but now that I got one, I'm going to have to legitimize everyone else's claims. (Isn't else the weirdest word?) Now that I think about it, it makes sense. After all, most of us are visiting some sketch sites to know the shows we know and see other fanwork like on deviantart. Anyway, I am so sorry to update so late...but here it is. I don't own Gundam Wing.

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What happened next was a blur of fire and screams and pain. The plane hurtled towards the ground, the wings tearing off with an almighty screech of metal, the plane jackknifing around the obstacle and hitting nose first into the ground and spinning away, the plane was still for a moment and everyone was silent with a still hope. Then the world exploded and everything went black.

Tina blinked her eyes open, her mind running sluggishly as if it was dragging its feet through quick sand. Her vision was blurry and sounds were distant and distorted like she was underwater. She heard screams, and running, and something closer...a man talking, and Charlotte, it had to be Charlotte. She moaned and her vision came blearily into focus. In front of her the wounded boy, Duo squatted with her daughter, a hand on her shoulder and an encouraging smile on his face. They both turned at the sound of her voice.  
"Mom!" Charlotte squealed and launched herself at Tina who was only too happy to take her into her arms. She petted Charlotte's dirty blonde hair almost frantically. They made it, they were alive.  
"See, I told ya!" Duo's cheerful voice broke in. Charlotte disengaged herself enough to smile at Duo and give him a polite thank you before burying her head on Tina's shoulder again. Tina struggled to catch her breath. She looked up at Duo, who not long before had been unconscious next to her.

"Duo, are you alright?" She asked nervously, "Your wound, it was serious!" Duo's eyes darkened but his smile was kept in place. The effect was unsettling.  
"Nah, I've had worse. It is stopping me from helping out though." He said sadly, gesturing behind him where Quatre and a young couple strained at the entrance to the cockpit. The metal door that had once stood seemingly impenetrable now resembled a crumpled sheet of tissue paper, the safety glass window in the door completely shattered. The three pried at the destroyed edges of the door with improvised crowbars made out of bits of debris. Tina could see the desperation and frustration in Quatre's eyes. He was easier to read than Duo, though she was no expert when it came to people's body language.  
"We already tried to go in the front way," Duo continued, "but the entire front of the plane is smashed in. There's hardly an opening the width of an arm, and whatever else is half buried. We just gotta hope that the door gives soon."  
As if in an answer to Duo's prayer, there was an almighty screeching sound and the door popped off its hinges.  
"Finally!" Quatre cried, running into the room. Duo followed pushing the couple out of the way.

"Heero!"

Tina followed, crowding to the front of the door with the two other observers. She stopped dead.  
"Oh God." The young man beside her said softly. Tina couldn't help but agree. She looked at the two boys who stood in front of their comrade. Quatre seemed close to tears, Duo looked like he was ready to hit something. There was hardly anything left of the cockpit. The small room had collapsed in on itself, the control panel thrust in by the plane's impact. Wires hung in loops, occasionally sparking shedding a blinding flashing light on the ghoulish scene. Pinned to the back of the pilot's seat by a section of metal bulwark was the dark haired boy. His arms hung limp by his sides and he struggled for breath. By some unspoken agreement, at the same time both boys swallowed their emotions. Quatre braced himself against the part of the plane that pinned Heero and pushed up against it, straining under the weight, one of his arms dangled uselessly by his side. Without losing a moment, Duo untangled the dark haired pilot from the ruins of the safety harness. The boy was covered in blood. Glass crunched under Tina's shoes as she stepped backwards unconsciously. This was bad, really bad.  
With more gentleness than Tina would have thought possible, the two teens carried Heero out of the cockpit and laid him gently on the empty aisle. Most of the passengers had already made their way outside the plane trying to get their bearings and look for rescue, so the plane was vacant enough that they could do their work. Tina handed Charlotte to the young couple and asked them to take her outside. They nodded gravely, and left as Tina, Duo, and Quatre knelt by the wounded boy. Duo's hands shook as he lifted the bloody ribbons of Heero's dark green shirt. Beneath it lay a mess of lacerations, and his torso blossomed with a deep blue-purple color just beneath the skin.

"Heero, you idiot!" Duo whispered, his voice tight with anxiety. "You big baka, why do you always have to do this?"

Tina didn't know where to start. She wanted to cry. She had treated bad trauma in the ER before, but here... she didn't know where to start. His body was broken. The glass from the windshield had cut deep slices all over his body. In many places on his arms she could see bone. Duo worked frantically; tying pressure bandages to the deepest of cuts, trying to stem the flow of blood from a gash on his leg that grazed the femoral artery...it was no use. The boy had already lost too much blood.  
Tina looked up at Quatre who ran the fingers of his good hand along Heero's torso gently but firmly, wincing as he went. It broke her heart. She reached up to him, taking his hands away from his task. "Quatre, it's too late. He's dead already, he's lost too much blood, his chest is crushed. You can't win this fight, you should care for your own injuries, your arm. Give it up."  
Quatre's good hand moved so fast she didn't see it until it was at her throat. He pinned her against one of the dark blue airplane chairs, and his face got really close to hers. Tina felt like crying, like fainting, like closing her eyes and pretending this had all been a dream. He locked eyes with her and Tina felt rather than saw the fiery will in his eyes. His voice was eerily calm when he spoke.

"Do _not _presume you know what any of my friends can or cannot do." Then he released her. Tina slid down the chair, her breath catching in her throat. "I'm sorr-" she started. A weak cough interrupted her. She looked down in weak shock at the boy below her as his eyes fluttered open.  
"Heero!" Duo shouted. Heero winced.  
"Duo..." he choked out, blood lining his lips as he spoke, "Quatre...status?"  
"We're okay, Heero. Duo's fine. We're all safe, it's okay. Rest for now." Quatre said, profound relief settling into his turquoise eyes.  
"No, wait." Duo broke in. He grabbed Heero's hand and caught his eyes. "Heero, you're going into shock. You're losing blood. I'm giving you a mission. Stay alive."  
Heero closed his eyes and the barest trace of what might've been a smile graced his bloodstained lips. "Baka..." he said.

Tina watched the exchange in stunned silence. There was no way this guy could be alive, let alone talking, and what did he mean "mission"? These boys already seemed superhuman before the defied the laws of medical science, then she gasped. She looked up at Duo and Quatre with her hand still on Heero's wrist where she had been taking his pulse. They looked back at her with knowing glances. "His pulse!" she gasped out. When she first knelt down next to him, his pulse had been humming like the wings of a humming bird: far too fast, and far too weak. Now... "It-It slowed down! It's still weak, but it's within normal range! Is he...? He can't be..."

"Controlling it?" Duo asked wryly. Quatre gave her another one of his grim smiles.

"Tina," he said, "meet Heero Yuy."

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This is about my thirtieth draft, I'm not quite sure about it. My virus issue is mostly resolved, so I'm going to keep working on it, I have half of the next chapter done. Thanks for reading, and I hope you like it! Please let me know!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Here's the next chapter, and it's a long one! Enjoy!

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"You idiot! They were supposed to go down in the ocean!" A lean, black haired man yelled, pacing in front of an ornate golden throne. The man was handsome in a way; deeply tanned skin and a hard expression that gave the impression his features were chiseled out of rock. He paced in front of a room full of thugs holding automatic weapons. One unfortunate soul knelt at his feet shaking. "They would have been as easy to pick off as pickled herrings if they had a drop in the drink," the handsome man continued, his voice rising, "one fly over to check for survivors and they'd all be done for. I thought you said that bomb was foolproof!"

"It was esteemed Leader, I do not know what has happened." The scrawny, mouse-haired man at his feet replied, trembling as 'Leader" shouted down at him. "The plane should have been impossible to control, the bomb was planted so that it would take out two engines and the main control panel, there's no way!"

"There's no way? Oh, of course, I must have been mistaken then. Really, it's my fault." His words were laced with dangerous sarcasm. "My apologies Doctor, you really have done your best, I should thank you for all your hard work."  
The mousy haired man looked up in a kind of hopeful shock.

"Leader? Oh, thank you Leader. Thank you! I will not-"

The report of a shotgun cut the air. The Doctor sank down to his knees before collapsing on the floor, lifeless. The men cowered, standing in silent horror as the man's blood crept toward them. Leader holstered his weapon and looked out at them, danger flashing in his black eyes.

"We must assume that the targets are still at large." He said to the group. "Find them and kill them. Kill anyone who gets in your way, they can all be considered collateral damage. They cannot be allowed to escape I don't care if you have to search the entire mountain."

The leader watched with furrowed brows as the dunderheads armed with high tech weapons left to do their dirty work. He was quiet for a long moment before finally, he leaned back in his golden chair.

"Thanatos." He said quietly. For a while there was silence and he seemed to have spoken the word to the empty space. Finally a man appeared out of the shadows. Though his face was still shadowed in darkness the rest of the man exuded danger. His dark form towered over the throne. Leader swallowed. "I have use of your services. These are the targets that need to be eliminated." Without turning Leader held out legal folder. A hand that seemed blue and ghostly in the dim light took it without a sound, glancing at the files before it disappeared behind him.

"I trust you will be quick. You will be paid double your usual fee." There was no response. A light sweat broke out on Leader's temples. He waited a full minute before he chanced a look behind him. All that was left were shadows.

* * *

Tina sat huddled with the majority of the passengers. The ground was wet from a recent storm, but was drying quickly. Already Tina and the other passengers could sense the oppressive heat of the late afternoon sun, and the air itself seemed to burn with a tangy dryness. The plane crash had cleared a wide swath out of the waxy, sage-green brush, leaving an expanse of red dirt wide enough for the passengers to sit and get over the shock of still being alive. A few people wandered around the edges of the clearing with their mobile phones looking for a signal, but even with the planet wide earth-colony system in place they wandered in vain. The plane was situated in a narrow valley where the few redwoods, bare pine trees and wiry brush towered over everyone, obstructing any signals they would be able to receive. Slightly to the left of the plane a steep cliff dropped into a drainage where the low waters of a creek could just be seen.

Her eyes roved over the three bodies that had been pushed to the shadows edge of the clearing and covered with a cloth. She and Quatre had looked over them once they had finished with Heero. One of them, a woman in her forties, was dead when they found her, her glassy stare enough to confirm that her concussion was a fatal one. The second, an old man, in his eighties or nineties, was found dead in his chair. The medical alert bracelet that dangled around his thin and now pale wrist told Tina the cause of death: heart attack. The third was struggling for breath when he was found in the bathroom in a pool of his own blood. It was too late to save him. Unlike the pilots, this man was no superman and he had lost nearly three liters of his own blood. By the time they got him out of the bathroom his heart had stopped. CPR just pushed more blood out of his broken body.

Tina watched with surprise as Blue-tie man knelt by his prone, sheet-covered body at the edge of the clearing. Apparently he had been a friend of his. Tina was about to go and comfort him, perhaps apologize for judging him too quickly, when the barest flash of white caught her eye. Did he just take something from his pocket? Well, he was a friend; perhaps he needed something to give his family. Despite this reassurance, Tina felt uneasy with the interaction. Unnerved she eased Charlotte's sleeping head off her lap and made her way back to the plane where Quatre and Duo still sat with Heero. She stopped when she could hear the boy's voices. An overwhelming sense of curiosity overcame her to see what these boys were like when they were alone, and she crouched down beside the entrance to the plane.

"Okay, are you ready?" A voice said, Duo's Tina thought.

"Just do it."

A sickening crunching sound followed the words and Tina's gut twisted as she heard Quatre's pained gasp.

"...Thanks." Quatre's voice again.

"No problem, you okay?"

"I guess. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have left him alone, I should have stayed with him."

"So, what, you could both be in this shape? Quatre, you did the right thing. It's no use for us to think about what we could've done. Even I admit you were probably right not letting me pilot just then, although I'm not happy about it."

There was a long silence and Tina risked edging around the exit to get a look. The two teens faced away from Tina, reclining over a line of three of the chairs. Quatre was looking down at Heero who lay between them in the aisle, shivering and jerking under the many blankets. Tina, Duo and Quatre had managed to stop all of the bleeding on the outside, but there was nothing they could do about the deep purple bruising on his abdomen that spoke of internal hemorrhage. They had set a couple of his ribs back in position with a sense of normalcy that frightened Tina more than the wounds, but it wasn't enough. No matter how much control he had over his body and no matter how much pain he could supposedly deal with, he needed proper medical attention and soon.

"There's something he said," Quatre murmured without looking up. "He said- he said you were more important. That I should save you, and not worry about him. And I felt it Duo." Quatre's hand wandered to his heart. "He really doesn't think his life means anything does he? How can he not know how much he means to all of us?"

Duo said nothing but placed his hand over Quatre's where it rested on his heart. They both sat like that in silence and Tina suddenly felt like terrible intruder. She retreated to her place with the rest of the passengers, her daughter reclaiming her lap as a pillow. She began to watch the other passengers though none fascinated her as much as the three teenagers on the plane did. So when a fat man with a bright red T-shirt began to talk about the pilot of the plane when it was crashing, Tina immediately cued in.

"My Dad was a pilot with the Alliance," the fat man said with a thick Southern American accent, "he used to tell me about plane maneuvering and crashes all the time. As far as I can see it, this landing here is damn near impossible for even the most advanced pilots." Many passengers seemed to key into the man's discourse and he stood up straighter with the eyes of the audience on him. The attention gave him poise and he launched in again on his explanation.  
"See here?" He asked pointing to the wreckage of the wings, "The two auxiliary engines are attached on the wings, here and here. When the bomb went off those two engines were on fire, it was only a matter of time before they were going to blow. So here comes the plane," he continued, miming the action of the plane with his fingers, his thumb and forefinger acting as the sides of the valley, "and BOOM! The wings hit the sides and tear off from the plane 'cause it's still got its momentum going, you know? So all the exploding parts are safely out of the way, the only problem is, that creates a whole lot of torque and you ain't got no wings to steer it with neither. So what does he do?"

The audience leaned in, eagerly listening to the man whose eyes have started to gleam.

"I'll tell you what he does, he-"

"He uses the only part of the plane he has control over, the tail-fin to pivot the plane making the cockpit cushion the impact of the crash on the rest of the plane, and spin the body so it's all protected from the explosion when the fire in the engines reach the fuel tanks." A dark voice cut in. The passenger's heads whipped over, staring in shock as the wounded braided boy walked over to them.

"So it's true?" The passenger's asked, a kind of morbid fascination evident on their faces. "What the first class cabin is saying? About how a boy landed the plane by himself?"

"Yes. Which is exactly why he is not my friend anymore." Duo said pouting. The passengers' jaws only dropped more when they heard Duo's reply. He was pelted with questions.

Tina saw Quatre duck out of the plane, looking on in curiosity as Duo spoke with the fat man. Quatre's arm hung in a sling and was taped in position with the destroyed handle of a rolling suitcase. Suddenly things fell into place for Tina: the bloody and bruised look of his arm, the way he barely used it after the crash, the horrible sound, and his gasp; he had broken his arm and Duo had reset it for him. Tina shuddered, he must have broken his arm badly to need to reset it, and yet he waited and endured the pain until all the other injured people were cared for? Tina was beginning to realize that Heero wasn't the only one that could defy the laws of medicine. Tina was drawn out of her reflection as a look of horror crossed the blond's bloodied, bruised, and burned face.

Tina snapped her head in the direction he was looking and coldness gripped her heart. Over the tops of the red manzanita bushes in the distance, a column of black smoke hovered...and it was growing.

* * *

TheDetanWerecat- I promise you I had this plot line written out before you reviewed. I gave them the wet ground to give them a head start but you pretty much hit the nail on the head. You get out somewhere that dry it is a real problem. Thanks for your review!

dootadoot- Yes! The lovely Heero Yuy who can walk away after breaking his femur and blowing himself up! Thank you Gundam Wing for a character that can be horribly abused and barely conscious and still be a badass! Thanks for all your reviews!

Mikharu- Thanks for your review! I love it too! Why, I'm not sure, but I'm glad to know I'm not alone when I find myself breaking the legs or ribs of my favorite main characters (guilty smile).

Button Harlequin- Thanks for your review, I'm glad that you like it. I hope this next chapter satisfies!

Fan-to-Fiction- I agree it is really surreal when the Gundam pilot's die, and I have yet to come across a deathfic that I feel stays in character, but don't worry there's plenty of grim reality approaching.

Hope you like the chapter, it's extra long because I'm traveling to Japan in two days (AAH! YAY!) and don't know how much I'll be able to write.

** Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Tina snapped her head in the direction he was looking and a coldness gripped her heart. Over the tops of the red manzanita bushes in the distance, a column of black smoke hovered...and it was growing._**

The other passengers followed Tina's eyes to the smoky horizon, and the entire camp was silent for a few moments as they all drunk in the white-gray cloud that hovered over the trees in the distance.  
"That's not..." Tina heard a woman start. her voice shaking.  
"Oh my God. Oh my God!" Now everyone took up the cry, the camp erupted into pandemonium.

"A fire!"

"Oh my god we're gonna die."

"We need to get out of here." "NO!" "Why!"

Tina found herself swept along with the crowd, her mind going blank in panic, barely registering the fact that she was now on her feet, preparing to run to the edge of the clearing with the rest of the stranded passengers. She clutched her daughr's hand in her own, her eyes facing in the direction that her feet were pointed without actually seeing anything. Some part of her mind told her that she was running into a thicket of brush taller than she was without any idea of where she was or even if she would be able to get through it. Some part of her mind told her it was an incredibly stupid thing for her to do. That part of her mind wasn't heard because the rest of her mind was screaming, and her screams mingled with those of the other passengers. They all pressed forward crazily without direction, a rising tide of panic sweeping into the woods. Then Charlotte stopped. Tina was forced into an abrupt halt in order to maintain her grip on her daughter's hand.

"Momma, I want to stay with Duo." She said simply. Tina was shocked into her wits. She looked back and saw that quite a few of the passengers along with Quatre and Duo had remained. Around her, others seemed to come to their wits, and the noise dimmed. Some that had gotten as far of the brush collapsed, falling in on their families and loved ones to cry. Tina's breathing returned to normal, and she picked Charlotte up, cradling her in her arms.

"Okay," she said, "Okay, we can stay with Duo. I think that's a good idea."

Tina walked back to the others the fear coiling inside her stomach, weighing her down and making her knees wobble. Quatre and Duo both looked out at the blossoming smoke with grim expressions on their faces and Tina could tell that their muscles were tensed. When Duo spoke his voice was thin and terse with tension.

"Someone must be helping it along. It would've died out where Heero dropped the engines. They did bomb it for a reason."

Quatre nodded slowly and Tina felt a whole new kind of fear overtake her. There was someone else out here?  
From behind them, the now shaky voice of the boastful Southerner offered tentatively, "My Dad...he said that all planes have an ELT right? So all we have to do, is wait here, and rescue teams will find us. That's what you always have to do. You have to stay in the same place, otherwise you'll just end up lost and rescuers won't know where to find you."  
Tina was only half surprised when many of the passengers looked to Quatre and Duo to confirm or deny this statement. The two young men seemed more surprised than Tina was.

"Well, ordinarily yes, but..." Duo began haltingly.

The fat man gained confidence with Duo's agreement and cut Duo off before he finished. "They'll find us soon if we just stay here. If we run the fire will just catch us anyway. We have a better chance if we just stay here." Many passengers seemed to agree although they looked nervously at the cloud of smoke that continued to get thicker in the distance. This time it was Quatre who countered the man.

"Someone else is out there." he said, "The fire most likely did not start by itself-"

"Obviously, the engines started it!" One of the passengers cried vehemently.

'Maybe, but-"

"Maybe!" The fat man shouted, "I'm not sticking with you and your "maybes". It might have worked for you to land the plane, but I know what I'm talking about and running away is the absolute last thing for us to do. You gotta hug a tree, remember? Who's with me?!"

Most of the passengers nodded assent to the idea, their eyes professing their deep fear and hope for rescue.

"After all," an old man said gravely, "You can't outrun a fire. That's the number one thing I was taught in wilderness school."

"We can try! Please!" Quatre shouted desperately, "There's no time. What about the people who set the bomb? They're out here looking for an ELT beacon, you'll be sitting ducks waiting here!"

"We don't have any chance running with you all over this god forsaken place! There's no one after us but rescue helicopters! We'll get ourselves killed when we could wait safe for rescue!"

"You don't know that. Please! Be reasonable!"

Surprisingly it was Blue-tie man who stepped up next to Quatre and the other pilots.

"I'm not staying here to die." He said with conviction. "I'll go with you." Quatre looked at him curiously, but with compassion and nodded.

"Anyone else?"

Tina and Charlotte made their way over silently, so too did the young couple that had helped free Heero from the cockpit. A few dozen others followed their lead, silently shuffling over, including the man that Heero had beaten as he tried to open the emergency exit.

"Well, okay, so..." Duo said, and Tina could see he felt awkward with the thirty or so people looking to him for guidance. "We need to start moving right now. First we need help to make a stretcher. We already have the food out from plane, if a couple people could grab that-"

"Stretcher!" Someone shouted. Duo and Quatre's glares soon singled out a middle aged brunette with a long low ponytail. "We're supposed to run from a fire and who knows what else while carrying a dead man?" She shrieked.  
Duo started forward ominously, but Quatre stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"You're right, we don't have time to make a stretcher, but we will not leave him behind. I assure you it will not hinder our pace."

"I'll carry him." Quatre and Duo singled out the young Canadian man from the crowd, as did the rest of the passengers. He looked uncomfortable with the attention. " Well, he saved all our lives! I can carry him."  
Quatre smiled at him while the rest of the passengers looked down abashed.

"Thank you. We don't have much time. Gather what you can from the emergency supplies on the plane, and follow me." Tina followed Quatre and Duo as they dodged through the crowd sorting through the plane's emergency supplies to get to Heero. He looked worse than she remembered. His skin was pale and clammy and his pulse was fluttering weakly at the pace of a hummingbird's wings. The Canadian man, who introduced himself as Ethan, paled at the sight of him, but still stepped up as Duo gently lifted the battered pilot off the floor and onto Ethan's back, wincing when Heero moaned. Quatre used the airline's complementary blankets to secure Heero in position, while trying not to inhibit any of Ethan's movement. Within the minute they were done and ready to lead the group. Many used the blankets as little rucksacks to carry some of the emergency rations, while an Asian youth with a rather flat face had slung the first aid kit over his shoulders. With one last worried glance at the fire and the drawn faces of those they would leave behind, Quatre plunged into the brush.

It was not easy. The brush was thick and sharp. The shiny red bark of manzanita bushes flaked beneath their fingers while scrub oak scratched the skin off their arms. Pale gray-green thorny branches of what Duo had affectionately dubbed "Hell-bush" scored long bloody scratches on the groups' legs. Dust settled on the sweat that covered their faces, and little black gnats hovered around their face and ears. Tina was pretty sure she had swallowed one already. She looked at her daughter who struggled through the brush behind her. Even near the middle of the line, where the brush had been smashed into a kind of tunnel by those in front, she still bore scratches on her arms and legs. Nevertheless she still bore that determined look on her face that made Tina admire her daughter so much. It was the same look she had worn when she had first learned to walk, and the same one when she read her first chapter book. She wouldn't give up. Tina envied her tenacity. It seemed like they had been crashing through brush for hours but when she looked back she could still see the top of the ridge where they had started. She was hot and tired and sweaty and damn if these bugs did not want to get swallowed! She stared at the swinging braid in front of her and wanted to scream. She couldn't even complain properly because the boy who had gotten a piece of shrapnel in his stomach was still walking in front of her!

Just then they broke out of the thickest brush, landing them on the steep, tree shaded cliffside of the creek. Ahead of her, she could see Quartre picking his way slantways across the steep bank, every other step sending a cascade of dirt and dead leaves sliding down. Late sunlight filtered through the bays and redwoods and hit the rapid waters of the creek about three hundred feet below them as Tina followed suit. The last person to go was Ethan and his fiance Lisa, who struggled to keep Heero steady. Tina noticed Duo sending worried looks over his shoulder now and then, and had more than once offered to share the load, despite his wound.  
With more sliding than hiking, the group eventually made it down to creek. The group followed the creek to the next bend where a fallen tree stretched across the rapid waters. Quatre climbed onto the log and Tina winced with him when he used his injured arm to help himself up the trunk that on its' side was almost two feet taller than him. He walked across slowly, testing his steps on the slippery wet moss, but the tree was large and sturdy and did not give. It was the dismount that was difficult. The tree on the opposite side of the bank was a mass of dirt and roots that stretched about ten feet high. Bracing himself Quatre began to climb the roots one handed. The dirt covering the gaps in between the roots fell away as he climbed leaving Quatre struggling to keep a good foothold in his climb. Duo scrambled up after to help him and soon a climbing path of sorts was established. Duo pushed himself up and over onto the other side while Quatre made his way back to the passengers and offered his hand to Blue-tie man who balked.

"You can't possibly think that I'm going to pull a stunt like that! You may have enough monkey blood in your veins to climb that, but they sure as hell won't hold me. We should continue on this side of the bank." Blue-tie shouted, backing away from the proffered hand. The blond youth's face fell, and for a moment she could see the kind of wear and tear she would expect to see on a sixty year old war veteran; a kind of weariness that came of seeing both too much life and too much death. She had seen her fair share of those expressions in the terminal patients ward in the hospital. But then the moment was gone, replaced with turquoise eyes set with grim determination as the blond stood to address the group.  
"I know you are all tired, I know that you have all seen things today that you will want to forget, done things you didn't think you would ever have to do. I understand. I am asking you now, to not give up. Look at the people around you. Look at the children, " he said, and Tina felt eyes fall on Charlotte who clutched Tina's leg. "The children need you to be strong. The group needs you to be strong. Getting across the creek is our best chance of escaping the fire, or at least slowing it down enough to get us to safety. I am asking you to be strong for the sake of those around you, and to allow their strength to support you. I will help you across. Now who will be first?"  
The group of passengers was quiet for a moment as those on the bank drank in his words. Then a young woman stepped forward. She had black hair, and dark skin, and her cheeks were streaked where dirt had stuck to her tears. She didn't say anything, just bit her lip and reached up her hand for Quatre to pull her onto the log. The two of them made their way slowly across the log to the roots where she started the climb. Duo helped her down on the other side and she managed to smile and wave at those left behind on the bank. The others stood.

Eventually Quatre and Duo managed to maneuver most of the passengers onto the opposite bank. One root had broken when Blue-tie finally, begrudgingly made the climb, but Duo and two other passengers managed to pull him to safety. Only four were left on the wrong side of the creek: Heero, now untied from his perch on Ethan's back, Ethan himself, his fiancé Lisa and a woman with long brown hair, and a lined face. Quatre reached down to the woman but she backed away shaking. Tears started to leak out of her eyes as she stumbled backwards. From across the creek she saw the blond-haired boy stretch out his hand to the retreating figure and could just hear his soft entreaties to her above the roaring of the creek waters. An older man who reminded Tina of a wilting flower sidled up to her with his Hawaiian print shirt and his mid length white pony tail.

"She's scared of heights," he muttered to her softly. "Sat next to her on the plane. There's no way she's going to make it across." Tina looked back at the opposite bank. Quatre had jumped down from the log. The two of them now sat on the bank across from each other. The woman had her eyes closed and her hands on Quatre's wrists, his hands were on her temples, covering her ears. Tina could see his mouth moving in some kind of indiscernible mantra and slowly the woman opened her eyes to meet Quatre's. Tina's breath caught, and suddenly she knew without a doubt that Quatre was going to get them all out alive. Hawaiian print seemed to have the same kind of epiphany if his soft "oh" was any indication.  
Duo climbed back over the top of the roots and made his way across the logs to Ethan and Lisa who crouched around the still unconscious Heero. After a few minutes of deliberation, and a few glances at Quatre and the brown-haired woman who still hadn't moved, Lisa and Duo climbed up on top of the log and reached down to recover Heero from Ethan as he lifted the boy from the ground into their arms. It was too dangerous to carry the unconscious teen across the fallen tree, so Lisa and Duo sat at his head and feet as he lay on the log and pushed him across on his back, one foot at a time. It seemed like a good idea, but from the first push, Tina knew she was terribly mistaken. Heero was instantly awake. The next push and he choked off a scream, the third and his lean frame was wracked with terrible wet coughs and low moans. Even from a distance Tina could see Duo's distress. She got the feeling that doing this for Heero was hurting Duo more than it was hurting the dark haired teen. At the roots, Tina stepped up to help them over along with a couple others who watched the event with pale faces. Ethan took over for Lisa who was white and shaking, tears sketching trails in the dirt down her cheeks.  
Heero's eyes were bloodshot and haunted, his jaw clenched so hard to bite off the screams that Tina could see the cords of muscle jumping out on his neck. Everyone was as gentle as they could be, but when passing the boy over the top of the roots, he gave a ragged gasp and fell unconscious once more, blood making a sticky saliva trail from his mouth. On the bank everyone collapsed on the ground, staring at the broken body of the dark haired teen. Silent tears shimmered on Duo's cheeks, and he dropped to the ground beside Heero as he heaved shuddering breaths, hands clenching and unclenching the earth below him. Ethan and Lisa were kissing deeply.  
Without a word, the Wilted-flower man knelt down beside Heero helping as Duo began to readjust and redress bandages. The old man's face was solemn and contemplative, and became even more so when he glanced back across the creek and saw Quatre. The blond cradled the woman's body from behind, shadowing her every step, her arms topping his as he gently moved them forward. The woman's face was strained into something ugly; face stretched taut over jaw and cheekbones, blue veins pronounced on her fear-pale skin. She kept her brown eyes trained on the roots in front of her as Quatre murmured in her ear. Step by step they made progress, her strides growing hesitant near the middle, then moving on, close enough so Tina could hear the mantra that Quatre was repeating in her ear: "You're in a meadow, and every step you take is filled with flowers, and when you step they grow and they wind around you and the anchor you down. Feel the surety in your foot, your anchor. Feel the connection with your foot to the ground. Take another step. You're in a meadow…"

As with Heero, everyone gathered to help the woman across the roots, and though she was stiff and shaking and crying, she made the climb and lunged to solid ground. The group seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief when Quatre, the last person descended the roots and was immediately embraced by the brown-haired woman, who could not stop saying thank you. He disengaged himself and knelt beside Duo who was redressing Heero's wounds with shaking hands. One hand clutched his heart, and the other he put on Duo's shoulder, looking straight into the braided boy's eyes. For a moment, neither of the boys said anything or did anything but stare. Then, as if reaching some unspoken agreement, the two boys stood. Duo turned to Ethan who would again carry Heero. Quatre turned with steel in his eyes towards the open wood and, passing the resting passengers, began to forge another path through the brush down the bank of the river. The others were silent when they rose to follow.  
This too was slow going. Some chose to walk down the creek in the hip-deep water while the others slogged their way through the brush, spiderwebs and duff on the bank using redwood saplings and knobby shade-stunted oaks for handholds. Many people were soaked from head to toe after an ill-planned step on one of the slippery rocks, and more than a few were bruised. Ethan had finally given up his burden to a sturdy looking businessman named Greg. A boy of about ten years had lost his flip flops to the creek water and Quatre didn't hesitate to offer his own, attaching them to the boy's feet with duct tape to account for the size difference. With wet, heavy clothes and little breaks, Tina knew she was with the rest of the passengers in that she couldn't last much longer. So when they came across a small flat glen, she collapsed, hugging her daughter to her as she leaned against a tree. The rest of the passengers followed suit, their chests heaving and their brows dark.  
Quatre scouted ahead as the sun went down. Duo looked up from Heero, who was blinking awake, when Quatre returned with a smile.

"So you felt it too?" The braided man asked smugly. Tina felt a breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding be released from her chest at the sight of their carefree expressions.

"I've been waiting for this all day. Finally a break." The blond replied, then he raised his voice to address the others. "The wind changed! We can rest here for the night."

* * *

A/N: Do not own Gundam Wing. Sorry for the extremely late post. If you read my profile you saw that I was on a three month backpacking trip after I finished my Japan trip. Finally got settled in my dorm and I can get back to writing regularly. Thanks for all that are sticking with the story and thanks for reading!


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